This taping is a bit early as it is five weeks away from the airing of their season finale (a total of 16 regular episodes will air this season). However as always, the housewives got to see all the episodes that have yet to air before the reunion taping.

As for why Bravo decided to film the reunion so early (it’s usually filmed about 2 – 3 weeks before the finale), Simon van Kempen(whatever happened to his song?) tweeted yesterday that it “was impossible to find a July date when all #RHoNY were in NYC”. They have jobs or something?

An of course all parties involved tweeted during and after the reunion. And based on those tweets, it appears Countess Lulu believes the knock down drag out reunions fights are a “great time,” Kelly needed some help from her “fans” on what to say, Andy Cohen might or might not have lost his temper with the ladies, and if there’s one thing clear, it is that it’s still the Brunettes vs the Blondes.

Below are some of the tweets in chronological order -

CountessLuAnn – “Having a great time with the girls! #RHONYReunionShow”

Kellybensimon – “Every #reunion, @BravoAndy asks a quick reflection on the season.TELL ME how I’ve changed this season!I will quote you on #RHONYReunionShow”

BravoAndy – “We just wrapped the RHNYC reunion. It was EPIC. I can barely hear. (Maybe I lost my temper at the ladies!) I need a drink.”

Meanwhile, an all new episode of the RHONY is set to air tonight on Bravo at 10/9c. On the 12th episode this season titled “Sixteen and Skip the Sweet,” it’s a birthday blitz when Ramona plans a sweet-16 party for Avery, LuAnn meets with a party planner for her own daughter’s 16th birthday, and LuAnn throws a surprise birthday bash for Jill. Also, Jill gets her widely reported “liquid face lift” on tonight’s episode. A preview clip is below.

With the fourth season currently on the air, the NY Post reports the producers of the show are desperately trying to recruit a new cast of “beautiful, well-connected and wealthy women for the next season.”

This comes weeks after sources revealed the network was seriously considering replacing the entire cast which includes Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, LuAnn de Lesseps, Ramona Singer and others. The execs are reportedly trying to find women with more wealth and glamour a la the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

In fact the show producers reportedly asked two NY women, p.r. mavens Alison Brod and Di Petroff, to join the cast though they have both declined.

Bravo casting for the upcoming season of the NY housewives is not out of the norm as next season will begin filming towards the end of the summer. It is however unlikely that the network will replace the entire cast as we reported 2 weeks ago that the ratings for this season have been pretty good, even showing a slight increase from last year with Bethenny frankel on the cast.

My bet is on Bravo replacing one or two of the cast members, more than likely Cindy Barshop and Kelly Bensimon. The reasons? Well Cindy is self-explanatory and Kelly has been sorta sane thus boring this season.

In other NY news, a judge ruled against Sonja Morgan once again in her bankruptcy legal drama. After filing bankruptcy last year following a $7 million judgement against her, the NY Post is reporting Sonja lost a court battle in her bid to get her former lawyers to pay her millions for alleged malpractice.

Hannibal Pictures won the $7 mil judgement against Sonja last year after she failed to fund a John Travolta film, as she originally agreed. Sonja in return sued the lawyers who represented her in the case citing malpractice. However last Thursday, an arbitrator denied Sonja any payout.

“I don’t agree with the judgment. I’m shocked,” said Sonja to the Post. When asked how she will pay off the $7 mil debt, Sonja responded, “I don’t know. I’m a hard worker. I’ll survive. I’ve got to meet with my advisers.” In court docs, Sonja listed herself as a “television personality” with an income of $26,000 a month.

And following Jill Zarin’sbig revelation yesterday that Mario Singer shoved her during a confrontation, Ramona has come out denying Jill’s version of events. Ramona admits Mario confronted Jill about “making up stories,” about her but denies it ever got physical. And a look at the comments posted on the E! and PEOPLE.com stories show majority of fans do not believe Jill.

And finally RadarOnline uncovered some before photos of the Countess herself aka LuAnn including an old modeling pic, and those photos are below!

The drama took place on Friday, June 10 when Mario decided to confront Jill at a party in the Hamptons about the comments she had been making about his wife Ramona. Jill claims Mario shoved her during the confrontation, citing her assistant/rep Darren Bettencourt witnessed the incident.

“He definitely scared me,” said Jill to E!. “He was belligerently screaming at me in front of friends. I was shocked. He shoved me. Darren [her assistant/rep] was my witness and he had to get in the middle and tell him to get off of me.” In addition to Darren, the only other person who would attest to Jill’s version is a man named Trevor Cork, who is coincidentally a close friend of Darren’s.

Following the first report last week, Ramona came out stating camp Jill was exaggerating the events that happened while also accusing Jill of leaking negative stories to the press about her. “So not true,” said Ramona last week. “Did they talk? Yes. Then she, Jill, walked away.” Ramona also added, “Jill has her reps make up exaggerated stories about me as this is the only way she can get press.”

And following Jill’s statements last night,Alex McCord also expressed her skepticism. “I wouldn’t put much stock in what you are reading in the gossip column,” she said. “Sometimes the things that get leaked out are truthful and sometimes the things that get leaked out are not and sometimes they are malicious. Sometimes that fight is on our show and sometimes that fight is in the press.”

So a man allegedly shoved Jill in front of others and instead of calling the cops or filing a report, she calls up E! News? And no one else around called the cops? If this allegation by Jill is made up, then it must mark a new low for her as it’s a pretty serious allegation. And if it is true, she should have pressed charges as violence against anyone is never okay. Another reason why this story seems a bit hard to believe is because the original story leaked to the press made zero mention of any physical attack. As for Ramona, she has yet to respond to Jill’s latest allegations.

Meanwhile this latest drama is right on schedule as the RHONY reunion is scheduled to film tomorrow.

TELL US – DO YOU BELIEVE JILL? SHOULD THIS MARK THE ENDING OF JILL AND RAMONA’S FRENEMISHIP FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL?

UPDATE – Jill’s rep Darren is denying he leaked the original story to E!, citing he was contacted by E! to comment on the story.

On Thursday’s Real Housewives of New York the ladies leave exotic Morocco and head back to Manhattan. Love, loss and confrontation ensue once back on American soil.

Ramona decides to seduce Mario (on camera, of course) but poor Mario’s late to the party. Alex gets home and Simon has a romantic dinner planned. It’s an evening of making out, ass smacking, and talking to the oysters which are ready to spike their libidos…and that’s all before the couple sits down for the meal. Across town, Ramona’s still waiting and Mario enters awkwardly. Ramona informs Mario of the fortune teller’s prediction. Mario, like Ramona, believes the “other woman” is their daughter Avery. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it!

Simon’s gifts Alex with a basket full of “panties” (I HATE that word) and Alex proceeds to model the lingerie for Simon. Where is the remote? I need to change the channel STAT. Who does this knowing they’re being filmed for an enormous television audience? Not to be outdone in the creepy category, Ramasseuse gives a shirtless Mario a massage. Please, Bravo, show anything else…Luann’s wine-selling boyfriend, Kelly eating jelly beans, heck, even Gia Guidice’s runway walk–ANYTHING!

So can we expect skipping through the grass on tonight’s episode? It’s doubtful. “Debt Becomes Her” follows the ladies as they leave Morocco and head back to the Big Apple. Ramona and Jill try to maintain their newly (and barely) fixed friendship, while someone else clamors to cause drama in Ramona’s life. Additionally, back in the States, Sonja’s money issues are revealed plus Alex and the Countess get into it. A sneek peak is below.

In other NYC news, how do housewives become relevant? Well if you’re a new housewife, it’s a lawsuit, of course! Cindy Barshop has flown under the radar this season on the show (except for a hanger debacle and a seating situation on a Moroccan mini-van), but she’s now at the center of a employment lawsuit surrounding her pink parts salon, Completely Bare.

According to TMZ, Cindy had to let go an employee after client complaints and disciplinary measures. In turn, the employee, Altovise Collier, sued Cindy, citing that her termination was not because she was a bad waxer, but rather because Cindy is racist and didn’t want Collier, who is black, to continue to work for her. Last week, Collier filed suit against Cindy on claims of discrimination. However, Cindy says that Collier, who worked for Completely Bare for less than three months before being fired, is using race to distract from the truth: her poor performance on the job.

Regarding the Completely Bare countersuit, Cindy states, “In an effort to mask her own deficient work performance and serial on the job screw-ups, Collier, in a racist fashion, asserts that her race, national origin and skin color were the basis for her termination.” Cindy believes that Collier is attempting to tarnish Cindy’s “professional reputation,” and she is suing to the tune of $5,000,000 to make sure that these defamatory claims are put to rest.

Transitioning from a new housewife with new problems, we turn to an old housewife and old beef. In an interview with TV Guide, Jill Zarinreveals what went down after her taxing fight with Ramona Singer in Morocco. Apparently, it all stems from last year’s Scary Island. Jill reveals, “We’d been putting off talking about what had happened last year in St. John for a long time.” She elaborates, “I showed up, and [she] didn’t welcome me in. Technically, did she throw me out? No, but when I said I would leave, she was like ‘don’t let the door hit you on the behind.'”

Having held off on that discussion until Morocco proved even more dramatic for Jill and Ramona. Jill admits, “I [saw] on the commercials that she [fell] on the bed crying, and to me it looks fake…She’s crying a lot this season and they are such inauthentic tears.” Ouch, but kudos for using Kelly’s buzzword!

Even though the pair appeared to make amends on last week’s episode, Jill concedes, “We’ll be frenemies for the rest of our lives… [this] was really sort of the end of it.” Of course, Jill wouldn’t be a good reality star if she didn’t recognize that viewers love drama. No matter what, it’s all about making us tune every Thursday, and Jill knows Ramona plays a big part in that. She recognizes, “Thank God for Ramona… I don’t know what [we would] do without her. If we were all holding hands, running through the grass, how boring would that be?!”

Now that she’s sort of famous on the tee-vee, Real Housewives of New York Citydud star, Cindy Barshop has found herself the subject of guess what? A Lawsuit! Congratulations Cindy – you’re nobody in America till somebody sues you.

According to the New York Post, it seems Cindy, owner of Completely Bare Spas – which will dot your lady parts with glitz and glam for a hefty fee- has been slammed with a racial discrimination suit from a former employee.

Altovise Collie - who was let go in March – claims she was fired on the grounds of her race after being subjected to harassment and unequal pay at the hands of Completely Bare employees and Cindy herself. Collie, who is African-American and relocated from Atlanta for the job, states she was hired after a phone interview, but when she arrived at Completely Bare’s Fifth Avenue Flagship location things changed: “They were very impressed with me — until they saw me. I was treated like trash and thrown in the gutter, damn near sleeping in the streets. Everyone treated me badly, like I was in some sort of sorority hazing.”

Collie, who maintains she was the only black beautician at Completely Bare, further complains that her co-workers accused her of being hired only to “inject some color” into the spa, because the “spa” which specializes in Vajazzling was expanding nationally. Did you hear that guys – rhinestone vajayjays coming to a town near you! YAY!

In addition to facing harassment for her race, Collie asserts she was paid only half of the weekly $700 salary of other employees and paid only in cash, which prevented her from being able to rent an apartment. Collie also accuses her co-workers responsible for training her of withholding pertinent information about the waxing process resulting in employee complaints. Apparently when Collie had a sit down with Ms. Cindy Barshop – who we know from RHoNYC is obsessed with things being fair – about the treatment she was receiving and the inadequate training provided, she was fired a week later! Collie’s lawyer, Lenard Leeds, alleges: “From Day One, she wasn’t given the same training, she wasn’t given the same money.”

Well of course, Cindy is fighting back is now figthing back against the allegations: “The allegations are 100 percent not true and we can prove it.” In a statement released to RumorFix, Cindy explains: “She wasn’t fired because of her race, she was fired because of the quality of her work. Customers were complaining about her, so I retrained her myself, but when there was no improvement, I had to let her go. It had nothing to do with race. We have salons across the country with employees from several different races and backgrounds, so her claim that she was the only black employee is ridiculous.”

Cindy also goes onto reveal that Ms Altovise Collie has some C-list celebrity aspirations of her own: “She is trying to be a model now so I guess this is her way of trying to get her fifteen minutes of fame. She was never hazed. It’s all just lies and she wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t on a reality TV show.”

Who do you believe? Does Altovise Collie have a case or is she just trying to get some publicity? Has anyone visited a Completely Bare Spa? If so, what was your experience?

Eyewitnesses told E! that Mario was on a mission to find Jill immediately after arriving to the party. “Once Mario found Jill, he began screaming at her and was blaming her for the fact that Ramona looks like a drunk this season on the show,” one partygoer said. “It was really sad and pathetic that Mario was screaming at Jill like this. It was abusive and everyone at the party was extremely offended.”

The “source” then goes on to add that Jill, who oddly enough was photographed putting her finger in castmate Sonja Morgan’s face just last week, was “scared” and taken aback by the confrontation.

“She was just standing there speechless and looked scared and finally a guest had to get in between Jill and Mario and push him away from her. Bobby [Jill’s husband] had some words with Mario and told him to back off of his wife,” added the source. Jill’s rep then goes on to confirm the story to E! News, stating, “Sadly, this story is accurate.”

Ramona is however responding to the story and unlike others who shall remain nameless, she shoots straight with the press. Ramona states that while Jill and Mario did talk, the above claims are exaggerated. “So not true,” Ramona told E!. “Did they talk? Yes. Then she, Jill, walked away.”

Ramona goes on to state Jill and her reps leaked this story to the press. “Jill has her reps make up exaggerated stories about me as this is the only way she can get press. So sad, isn’t it?” Ramona adds.

And moments after E! published Ramona’s comments, partygoer Trevor Cork went on record telling E! that Ramona is lying about the incident. “It is in fact 100% true that Mario attacked Jill and everyone at the party saw it happen. I had to get between Mario and Jill just to get him off of her,” said Trevor.

And who is this unbiased partygoer you ask? Just the rumored boyfriend of Jill’s manager/rep Darren Bettencourt. In fact when you google Trevor’s name, the first photo that comes up is a recent picture of him with Darren.

TELL US – WAS THIS STORY LEAKED BY CAMP JILL? WHO DO YOU BELIEVE? JILL OR RAMONA?

UPDATE – Jill’s rep Darren is denying he leaked this story to E!, citing he was contacted by E! to comment on the story.

It’s the last leg of the Morocco trip for the Real Housewives of New York, and Alex uses Jill and Ramona’s fight as a springboard to vent her feeling about Luann…to Luann. Kelly fancies herself a therapist/life coach/mean girl when dealing with Alex, with some Scary Island thrown in for good measure. Sonja tries to avoid drama and is reminiscent of the funny, carefree woman we met last season. And Cindy? Poor Cindy is just as confused as ever as to why she agreed to this gig.

Thursday’s episode, “Last Call Morocco,” opens with a shaking and crying Jill, fresh from her altercation with Ramona. The brunettes swoop in to build Jill back up while the blondes attempt to console Ramona across the riad. Being the hostess with the mostess (attitude, that is), Luann will not allow Ramona’s behavior to ruin the ladies’ trip. She quickly goes to reprimand her guest, but Sonja and Alex run interference by requesting (what else?) pinot grigio for a traumatized Ramona who is being coddled to Alex’s braless chest.

Knowing the cardinal rule of entertaining, Luann obliges and pours a glass of liquid gold for Ramona before ripping into her. I believe that was covered in Chapter Three of her etiquette book. Alex, having found her backbone this season, asks Luann to leave before she can begin scolding Ramona. Kelly comes in and tells the girls that she refuses to take sides, and Ramona admits that she should have kept her mouth shut to avoid her fight with Jill. I had to rewind that part four times to make sure I’d heard her correctly!